This book traces the archaeological history of Pylos and surrounding regions in Messenia from the Palaeolithic to the present. Designed as much for general readers and travelers interested in ancient Greece as for scholars, the volume presents the findings of the Pylos Regional Archaeological Project (PRAP), which has intensively studied the region over the past 15 years. The 1998 edition, originally published by the University of Texas Press and widely used as a textbook in undergraduate classes, is reprinted with a new preface by Jack Davis and John Bennet, two of the project's original directors, assessing PRAP's impact and outlining new discoveries in the region.
Table of Contents
List of Figures; Preface (Jack L. Davis); Transliteration Rules; Introduction: Glimpses of Messenia Past (Jack L. Davis); Chapter 1: The Environmental Setting (Eberhard Zangger); The Physical Scientist's Role in Regional Archaeology (Eberhard Zangger); From Pollen to Plants (Sergei Yazvenko); Chapter 2: The History of Archaeological Investigations in Messenia (Nigel Spencer); The Discovery of the Palace of Nestor (Jack L. Davis); Marinatos in Pylos (Yannos G. Lolos): Chapter 3: The Palace and its Dependencies (Jack L. Davis); The Port of Nestor (Eberhard Zangger); Mycenaean Burial at Pylos (Yannos G. Lolos); Chapter 4:The Palace and its Operations (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine); The Ano Englianos Hilltop After the Palace (Charles G. Griebel and Michael C. Nelson); The Perfumed-Oil Industry (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine); Chapter 5: The Linear B Archives and the Kingdom of Nestor III (John Bennet); The Prap Survey's Contribution (John Bennet); Umme and Nichoria (Cynthia W. Shelmerdine); Chapter 6: After the Palace: The Early "History" of Messenia (Ann B. Harrison and Nigel Spencer); Ceramic Typology for Beginners (Ann b. Harrison); Nichoria: An Early Age Village in Messenia (Nigel Spencer); The Battle of Sphacteria (425 B.C.); Chapter 7: Liberation and Conquest: Hellenistic and Roman Messenia (Susan E. Alcock); Dialiskari: A Late Roman Villa on the Messenian Coast (David Stone and Axel Kampke); Power from the Dead: Tomb Cult in Postliberation Messenia (Susan E. Alcock); Bouka (Ann B. Harrison); Chapter 8: Medieval Messenia (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); The Estates of Niccolò Acciaiuoli (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); Venetian Methoni (Modon) (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); Byzantine Sgraffito Ware (Sharon E.J. Gerstel); Chapter 9: The Second Ottoman Period and the Greek Revolution (Jack L. Davis; Hasanaga: A Glimpse into the Ottoman Countryside (Susan E. Alcock); The Battle of Navarino (Charles Watkinson); Chapter 10: From Pausanias to the Present (Jack L. Davis); Messenia's Multiple Past ( Jack L. Davis); Computers and the Maps at Prap (Sebastian Heath); A Fieldwalker's Perspective on Prap (Maria Antoniou and Kalliope Kaloyerakou); Timeline; Sources of Quotations; Further Reading; Index.
Reviews & Quotes
"Ten years on, SP is still a good read, a splendid introduction to the pre-modern southwestern Peloponnese... that proves history of several sorts can be written without the aid (or crutch?) of a privileged ancient narrative.'"
Stefanie A. H. Kennell, American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2008)